This document specifies procedures for the determination of the affinity between aggregate and bitumen and its influence on the susceptibility of the combination to stripping. This property is intended to be of assistance to the designer for mixture design rather than as a type test. Susceptibility to stripping, as determined by these procedures, is an indirect measure of the power of a binder to adhere to various aggregates, or of various binders to adhere to a given aggregate. The procedures can also be used to evaluate the effect of moisture on a given aggregate-binder combination with or without adhesion agents including liquids, such as amines, and fillers, such as hydrated lime or cement. In the rolling bottle method, the affinity is expressed by visual registration of the degree of bitumen coverage on uncompacted bitumen-coated mineral aggregate particles after influence of mechanical stirring action in the presence of water. NOTE 1 The rolling bottle test is a simple but subjective test and suitable for routine testing. It is not appropriate for aggregates that are highly abrasive. In the static test method, the affinity is expressed by visual registration of the degree of bitumen coverage on uncompacted bitumen-coated mineral aggregate particles after storage in water. NOTE 2 The static test is a simple, though subjective test that is generally less precise, but that can cope with high PSV-aggregates. In the boiling water stripping test method, the affinity is expressed by determining the degree of bitumen-coverage on uncompacted bitumen-coated aggregate after immersion in boiling water under specified conditions. NOTE 3 The boiling water stripping test is an objective test and has a high precision. However, it is a more specialist test because it requires greater skill of the operatives and uses chemicals as reagent. The latter point might also imply extra health and safety considerations. NOTE 4 The boiling water stripping test procedure can be used for any binder-aggregate combinations in which the mineral aggregate is calcareous, silico-calcareous or siliceous by nature.

EN 12697-11:2012